


Whispers of Sun in the Snow

by Rei_the_Rat



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Slight Language Barrier, Tags to be added, What Is That Title?, to be continued casually, tranfer student Law
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 08:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15681603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rei_the_Rat/pseuds/Rei_the_Rat
Summary: Law began to hum a tune as he sometimes did while he studied or drew. Luffy wondered what the words to it were and if maybe someday Law would tell him. But for now he closed his eyes and thought of the snowy fields Law sketched with charcoal.





	Whispers of Sun in the Snow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Plume8now](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plume8now/gifts).



> Foreign language is made up by me. Any similarities to an actual language is completely coincidental.

Luffy noticed him on the first day of class when he walked into the art room. Mostly he noticed the fluffy white hat because this was an art class and that seemed like a bad choice of apparel. Luffy always made sure to keep his own hat away from his art projects. He also noticed the black spots on the hat and wondered if it had already been partner to a few master pieces.

Professor Olvia was speaking to him in a foreign language that sounded like quick clips of bird song to Luffy's ear. He left before class started, hat casting a shadow over his eyes and shoulders slumped in resignation.

And Luffy didn’t see him again until the following week.

The art room was open Monday through Saturday from eight in the morning until nine at night when Prof. Olvia finally shooed the last student out so she could lock up and head home. She wasn’t the only art teacher who monitored the room, but as head of the department she was the one there most of the time. So Luffy wasn’t surprised to see her there, or Miss Goldenweek walking some freshmen through the basics of color theory. However, Prof. Olvia merely waved over her shoulder at him when she heard the door close and continued sitting sideways at her desk, reciting the art history lecture from the week before.

Luffy walked up to the desk, partially curious as to what she was doing but also because he needed the key to get into the paint cabinet. As he came around the desk, he noticed the laptop in front of Olvia with a window open to show her voice was being recorded and another that was translating the input on to a word document, and then he noticed the same young man from before sitting with his back against the wall by the desk. The sleeves of his yellow and black hoodie were rolled up, showing off tattoos on his hands and arms, and he had a sketch pad and charcoal pencil in his lap. He looked up at Luffy and nodded his head in simple greeting before returning back to his sketch.

“Yes, Luffy?” Prof. Olvia addressed him once she reached the end of the paragraph she’d been dictating.

“I need the key.” Luffy waved vaguely at the cabinets. “What are you doing?” He asked Olvia now that he was more interested in the foreign student than getting an early start on his landscape painting.

She gave a gentle sigh. “This is Trafalgar Law, an exchange student from Flevance.” The country name sounded familiar to Luffy, but he couldn’t recall any specific details about it. “He doesn’t speak Dawnish very well yet. And unfortunately, I do not know enough of the Northern dialects to give a full lecture in it.”

“Oh,” Luffy nodded. The Northern dialects were a combination of languages spoken throughout the countries of the North Blue United Alliance. That was where the name Flevance sounded familiar from. The tenth anniversary of the Grand Line Treaty would be held that coming winter.

He noticed Law was looking at him again, his posture and gaze guarded. Ten years wasn’t that long ago. Memories of the war were still alive and burning with hate and misunderstanding. Luffy looked back at Olvia, who was watching him with careful eyes.

“That’s cool. So, it’s translating the lecture for him?”

She smiled. “Yes. I can at least hold a casual conversation with him if he has any general questions.” With a sigh, she turned back to the laptop. “Here’s hoping this translates coherently.”

Luffy moved the rest of the way around the desk, pulling his backpack off his shoulders. “Can I sit?” He asked, meeting Law’s gaze. Law’s brow furrowed, and he looked between Olvia and Luffy. Before he could say anything, Olvia tugged on Luffy’s sleeve and handed him her phone. A language app was open with a bright blue speaker button displayed. Luffy tapped it and held the phone to his ear.

“Allu…” He tapped it again. “Allua… vaera…”

Law snorted back a quiet chuckle, his lips threatening to break into a smile. He nodded and slid his backpack so Luffy could sit beside him.

Luffy dropped his bag and settled on the floor next to Law. He listened to the recording again and scrolled the screen up so he could see the literal translation. “May I be placed beside you?”

“All~Lua ver’ra,” Law said, rolling his r’s and drawing the l sound out.

“Ok…” Luffy began to type into the phone.

“Luffy, it’s a free app. Give me back my phone.”

“One sec… Kuu… dan?” He looked up at Law who was watching him with interest and a small smile.

“Kudann.”

“Kudann Luffy,” Luffy held out his hand for Law. “Kudann Monkey D. Luffy.”

“Kudann Trafalgar Law.” Law took his hand gently and let him shake it.

* * *

 

“Hey Nami? How do you learn a language?”

“Take a course for it.” She looked up from her laptop at Luffy. “You already have those credits though.”

Luffy shook his head and sat across from her at the table in the food court plaza. “They don’t offer it and the semester has already started anyway.”

“Well, there’s still books that can help or even free apps you can download.”

“Yeah, I know. I have one that’s translating for me kind of. But it’s not really teaching me…”

“What language is it?” Instead of a vocal response, Nami got Luffy’s phone in front of her face. She leaned back so she could see clearly. “Why… Why would you want to-”

Luffy pulled his phone away and frowned at her confusion.

“You know Sanji hates-”

“I know.” Luffy cut her off. “And I get that. But I want to talk to someone.” She gave him a look he didn’t really approve of but said nothing more.

* * *

 

When he asked Prof. Olvia later that day, she shook her head at him and explained how difficult it would be to find material for public use to learn the language. Even online sources would be scarce. She also told him that the Flevance dialect was extremely difficult to learn if it or one of the other North Blue dialects wasn’t your native language. It would be easier to help Law learn Dawnish.

Luffy huffed at that, but he did have to admit that she was probably right. He only passed his language courses because he had been raised bilingual for Dawnish and Baltigen. As he walked over to the corner where his canvas was set up, he practiced under his breath saying Hello and How are you. Law was already there, sitting on the floor near the paint cabinet with his laptop open and surrounded by textbooks and a translation dictionary.

“Suu’i’lia!” Luffy said with practiced ease. Since meeting Law a week ago, Luffy had slowly begun to pick up on the everyday phrases Law used. He still wasn’t sure how his pronunciation was; it always sounded different when Law said it.

“Su’ii’lia.”

“Avan… Avna d’te a- Ow!” Luffy clapped his hand over his mouth from the sudden sting of biting his own tongue.

“Kai su ey?” Law looked up at his outburst.

Luffy dropped his backpack by Law’s and slumped down beside him. “Kai su eh?” He mimicked, mumbing through his hand.

Law gently pulled his hand away. “Kai su ey…” He peered at Luffy with a small smile. “Ok?”

“Yeah, I’m alright.” Looking at Law’s notes on his screen and all the papers spread around him, it was easy to see he was picking up Dawnish at a good pace. Sometimes he would over pronounce his vowels or drag a sound out but the word was still comprehensible. Which was more than could be said when Luffy tried to speak his language.

Law gently dragged his hand thumb over Luffy’s knuckles. “How are you?” Then with a sly smile, he said it again. “Avna d’te a-lu?”

Luffy elbowed him lightly. “Hungry.”

A light chuckle left Law before he reached over a stack of books and retrieved a marshmallow pastry from one of the vending machine. They came five to a package and there were still three left in the one Law was handing Luffy. “Always hungry.”

Luffy happily took the remaining marshmallows. “Shishishi, yeah I guess I am.” He leaned back to eat them while Law tidied up his books. Softly, Law began to hum a tune as he sometimes did while he studied or drew. Luffy wondered what the words to it were and if maybe someday Law would tell him. But for now he closed his eyes and thought of the snowy fields Law sketched with charcoal.

**Author's Note:**

> This idea was suggested to me by [Omu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plume8now/pseuds/Plume8now) a few months ago and it spiraled out of control from there. I plan to write a few more chapter and build on Law and Luffy relationship and a little of the world. It was a fun concept to explore, and I'm really excited for it
> 
> Also you can chatter at me on tumbr: [Rei-the-Rat](https://rei-the-rat.tumblr.com/) and twitter: Rei the Rat


End file.
